Short Hair
by theBrutalityofReality
Summary: "...Y'know, I like girls with short hair." Lavi/Lenalee oneshot.


**Author's Note: **Finally, something that isn't a Hetalia fic!

So...I have actually been planning to write this fanfiction for awhile, but I only just got around to it. Either way, this fanfiction really isn't anything special. Just a cute, fluffy, simple, Lenalee/Lavi fanfic! I kinda adore the two of them together, hehe~!  
I apologize if it's a bit ooc as well! I'm not sure if Lenalee would really let her hair get to her so much, but it's just a fanfiction. A lot of this came from personal experience as well, since I had some pretty bad haircuts growing up. And man, I was devastated xP.  
But yeah, I hope you enjoy this fic!

She placed her hand against the glass hesitantly, almost afraid that she was going to break it. The glass was so cool, which made her shiver. She disregarded this for now and just focused on the image in the glass. It was a mirror so she could see herself perfectly. She was unsure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Mainly because the mirror did not lie to her. Theof the time she was quite happy in her skin, and hap mirror showed everything. It showed her soft features, which many considered to be her main beauty point. She recalled how many times that she had been called beautiful in her life. So many people had commented on her beauty, and she would just politely thank them. But she was not sure if this was the truth or if people were just being polite. Because when she looked in the mirror all she saw were her imperfections. Every time her dark eyes fell upon something that was 'imperfect' on her, she began to immediately criticize it, as well as lose so much self-confidence. Usually, the Chinese girl did not have this inferiority complex. Usually, she was quite happy to be who she was. But lately, she just felt so...well, ugly. All of these feelings of insecurity came about due to a slight change in Lenalee's features, that being her haircut.

The haircut had not been intentional, that much was obvious. It would be incredibly odd for her to just chop off all of her long hair into such a short style, and it might lead to questioning about her sanity. Mainly because something like that just wasn't normal. Especially when she was revered by so many for her long, beautiful hair. Now Lenalee was not a narcissist or anything along those lines. She never once thought that she was prettier or better than anyone else. She had just been content with how she looked and who she was. But now...she was just having such negative thoughts about her appearance. And having negative thoughts about her appearance was leading her to think lowly of her persona as well. She hated that she was letting something as stupid as hair get to her, and she thought that she was just being so selfish and vain. She was an Exorcist, meaning that she was supposed to be a top-notch fighter. She knew that she shouldn't be acting like this. She was being so immature, and not acting professional at all. There were so many dire situations occurring around the world, thanks to the Akuma, but she was fretting over such a foolish thing. She knew that she probably should be using this time more wisely. Perhaps training would be better, since she had not performed that well in the last battle. Which was another reason for her low self esteem.

Lenalee took a piece of her now very short hair, squeezing it between her fingers. She tugged at it lightly, still in absolute awe by how short it was. She had also been avoiding leaving her room since they returned to Headquarters, mainly because she did not want anyone to see her like this. When she did go out of her room, she mainly pretended to be happy. Sometimes, a small feeling of happiness would come across her, but it would vanish once someone commented on her hair. So many people were commenting on her hair, though they were not complimenting it like they used to.

_"Oh, Lenalee...what happened to your hair?"_

_"Well, it actually got cut off..."_

_"Oh, I see. That's a pity. Your long hair was so beautiful...but um, this look is nice as well!"_

_"Thank you."_

Even though the conversation seemed harmless, it really did hurt her. Mainly because she had to have this conversation over and over again, just in different forms. People kept on bringing up her new haircut, and almost every person would comment on how nice her long hair had been. _Been. _Or in other words, how it no longer was. How it used to be better. How much better she used to be. How she used to be beautiful. It was almost like the ugly ducking in reverse. The once beautiful swan had been transformed into the ugly duckling. She was probably looking into this too much, but it was still hard for her to deal with. She was just so fed up with the comments of the people, so she decided that it was probably best to avoid them. Which is the reason that she imposed herself in partial isolation. Just her and solitude...at least solitude would not comment on her hair. She tugged on the piece of hair once more, letting out a quiet sigh.

"What's with the long face?"

Lenalee jumped when she heard the voice from behind her. She looked away from her reflection, seeing another face in the mirror. It was Lavi, a good friend of hers. She was not surprised that he had not knocked since Lavi tended to just barge in like this. Lenalee turned around to face him, putting on a fake smile.

"Nothing is wrong, Lavi. Don't worry about me!" Lenalee paused for a moment, her smile fading away awkwardly. "So...is there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you were going to come down for dinner. I was about to go eat, so I thought that we could go together." Lavi suggested. Lenalee was pleased that Lavi had been find enough to invite her, but she knew that she could not go to eat. Way too many people...

"That's very kind of you, but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pass. I had a big lunch so I'm still a bit full." Lenalee lied. She had not left her room for lunch either.

"Really? You went down for lunch? That's weird, 'cause I didn't see you there..." Lavi said quietly. Lenalee panicked a bit, worried that he might have been able to catch that he was lying. She really was not that great of a liar, but she couldn't tell Lavi the truth. She didn't want to burden him with all of her troubles. "Yeah...I went down a bit late. I was with my brother earlier, so I just got lunch a little later." Lenalee awkwardly lied. Lavi simply nodded his head, not bothering to mention that he had seen her brother alone all day. He knew Lenalee was lying. Not only because of the facts, but because of how horrible she was at it. Lavi couldn't help but admire this. She was just so cute when she tried to lie. A small period of silence passed between the two of them before Lavi decided to break it, not being able to stand it anymore.

"Lenalee...are you sure that you're okay? You've been pretty distant lately." Lavi said, expressing his worry for his comrade. He cared deeply for both her and Allen, so it was only natural that he would worry about her. Lenalee was tempted to just come out with it, but she lacked the courage to do so.

"Yes, I'm sure that I'm okay. Don't worry about me so much." She reassured. She was very surprised that Lavi of all people was worried about her. She had expected Allen, if any one, to be concerned. But Lavi really did surprise her with this.

"...it's your hair isn't it?" Lavi stated out of the blue, which caused the dark-haired girl to gasp. Since when did Lavi get so perceptive? It was just so...weird. Lavi smiled at this, knowing that he was right. "Yup, it's your hair!" He let out a small laugh at this, which made Lenalee question his previous actions. Did he come in here just to laugh at her? So much for a slightly more mature Lavi. She put her hands over hair protectively, turning away from the other.

"...Did you come just to laugh at me?" Lenalee coldly stated. Lavi's happy expression vanished at this. That was the last thing that he wanted to do. He had come here because he was worried, not because he wanted to tease her. He'd never tease her when she was this upset. Plus, why would he even need to tease her? He had Allen and Yuu for that purpose. And ladies should not be teased. Ladies should also not get upset; they didn't look as pretty when they were upset. Which is why Lavi wanted to cheer up Lenalee. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his single eye staring at the back of her head.

"Of course I didn't. I came here because I was worried about you." Lavi paused, staring at the girl's hair. "Are you REALLY upset because of your hair?" Lavi questioned, not seeing what the big deal was. It didn't look THAT bad. Hell, it actually looked pretty cute to him. Lenalee did not respond to this, but she did shift slightly, her insecurity quite noticeable. Lavi let out a sigh. "Look, this is not something to get so upset over. You should be grateful that you have some hair still. Now if all of your hair got cut off, THAT would be something to be upset about." Lavi attempted to joke, laughing nervously. Lenalee obviously did not find this funny, since she remained silent. Lavi stopped laughing when he realized that his attempt failed. There had to be some other way to get through to her. Another moment of silence passed.

"...Y'know, I like girls with short hair." Lavi said, hoping that this would get through to her. Lenalee actually turned to face Lavi after this comment.

"What?" She questioned.

"Girls with short hair...I think that they are cute. It shows off the face more. All of that long hair can get in the way, and it sometimes can block a beautiful face. With your hair like this, you're pretty face can be seen so much more." Lavi told her with a small smile on his face. "You're lucky, Lenalee. You can pull off long and short hair so well. And it's all because of that pretty face of yours." Lavi told her, speaking the truth. He really did think Lenalee had a pretty, no, beautiful face. The bookman never got tired of staring at it. A shade of red formed on Lenalee's face. She was so surprised to hear Lavi say something like this. She knew that he was a flirt, so he probably said stuff like this to so many other girls. But for some reason...it felt special when he said it to her. It felt like he really did mean it. Lavi really was something. Not bothering to say anything else, Lenalee pulled the redhead into a warm embrace.

"Thank you so much, Lavi." She whispered quietly, her face resting against his chest. Lavi smiled, slipping his arms around her gently. After holding onto the embrace for a moment, Lenalee released him. She looked up at him with a small smile. It was also the first time that she sincerely smiled in days. She stared at him for a long moment before taking a leap of faith; she leaned in, kissing the Bookman. Lavi was quite surprised by this, but he kissed the Chinese girl back. She tasted so sweet, just like he thought that she would. Lenalee was the first to part from the kiss.

"I think that I'm ready to go eat dinner now." She said, all of those insecure feelings completely vanishing. Who would have thought that she'd cheer up because of Lavi?


End file.
